Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Commitment Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 7, 2014

North Korea remains one of the most mysterious cultures on the Earth, either despite or perhaps because of the occasional surreal appearance by Dennis Rodman singing “Happy Birthday” to the country’s diminutive but threatening leader. Commitment is a South Korean film that attempts to at least give a glimmer of insight into North Korean life, albeit a glimmer wrapped up in a weird combination of spy film and teenage romance. The film follows the exploits of a young man named Ri Myung-hoon (Choi Seung-hyun, AKA Korean music superstar T.O.P.) who through a series of unfortunate circumstances finds himself consigned to a North Korean labor camp, along with his young sister Hye-in (Kim Yoo-jung). Myung-hoon is offered a path out when he’s asked to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a spy working in South Korea. If Myung-hoon succeeds in his mission, both he and his sister will be freed.

Commitment then plies a rather bizarre middle ground of spy thriller machinations surrounded by an oddly endearing love story between Myung-hoon and another girl named Hye-in (Han Ye-ri) he meets while “on assignment” in South Korea. The film has a good feel for action (including some expertly staged set pieces) and character, but it’s never as visceral as it seems to be aiming for, though there's a stab at topicality when the impending demise of Kim Jong-ill proves to be a tangential plot point. Performances are uniformly quite good, however, and if Commitment doesn’t warrant a total vow of fealty, it at least deserves a transitory allegiance.

Commitment Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Commitment is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This digitally shot feature was evidently done on a relatively small budget, and that results in a somewhat monochromatic look some of the time, with several sequences taking place in unadorned settings that provide little opportunity for the image to really pop in a meaningful way. Colors are nicely saturated, though the film does opt for obvious color grading (including a slant toward the blue side of things) on several occasions, and contrast is similarly consistent throughout the film. Close- ups reveal excellent fine detail and there are no obvious compression artifacts to cause any worry.

Commitment Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Commitment's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix (in the original Korean) provides a nicely bombastic sonic experience in the action sequences, with nicely placed foley effects immersing the listener in some bone crunching antics. Dialogue is similarly clean and clear. Dynamic range is unusually wide on this track, which also sports excellent fidelity.

Commitment Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (480i; 10:30)


• Trailer (1080p; 1:11)

Commitment Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Commitment is obviously trying to cash in on T.O.P.'s status in Korea as a pop idol, and while not completely successful, the film offers a nice mix of action and more heartfelt romantic underpinnings. This ironically may mean this is one of the few films of this ilk which may end up appealing more to young women than young men. While no earth shattering achievement, the film is exciting and well paced, and comes Recommended.